Chapter 5:

A/N: Okay, so back on track with this story. Hopefully you like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own em, just the ones you haven't seen on TV.

The didn't hear the wailing cry again as the threesome began to ascend the rocky incline. It was slow going. There was a trail, but it was narrow and littered with loose shale. Sam adjusted his pack. He had to walk up the trail in a crouch in some places, using his hands to grasp solid rock protrusions and haul himself up. Despite the nip in the air, sweat rolled down his face, staining the collar of his shirt.

Parker paused and righted herself, pointing out a deep crag in the rock still some 40 or 50 feet up the slope. "There, that's the entrance to Crystal Lake Cavern." She looked back down the trail at the brothers. "I figured we'd start…" she trailed off, and her lips thinned. One eyebrow shot up into her hairline. "Are you checking out my butt?"

Dean grinned unapologetically. "Well come on Parker, you are right in front of me, and it's not like this trail is scenic. Seen one rock, seen 'em all."

Parker let out a disgusted noise and shook her head. She moved again, trudging along toward the mouth of the cave. "Are you ever not an ass?" she shot back over her shoulder.

"Oh so we're playin this game. I got one. Are you ever not a bitch?" Dean heaved himself past a small ledge. "I mean, when was the last time you got some? Seriously?"

"Sam," Parker stopped once more and called out. "I'm sorry to have to tell you, but when this is all over I am going to have to kill your brother."

"Right," Dean snorted. "Like to see you try."

"Oh don't tempt me."

"Oh that is it," Sam passed Dean, placing himself between his older brother and Parker. The two seemed intent on glaring each other down in the middle of the rock face. "The two of you need to separate." Sam glanced between them. "What are you, twelve?"

"He started it," Parker grumbled.

"Oh yeah," Dean replied, "that's very mature." Sam smacked the back of Dean's head lightly, earning him a deadly glare. "What?" Sam sighed. He really was cursed.

Soon the three of them reached the cave mouth, and all bickering, light hearted or otherwise, evaporated. Wind swept down the mountain and over the opening, and just like blowing over the top of a beer bottle, a low, eerie whistle sounded. Sam, Dean and Parker all shrugged out of their packs. The first 100 or so feet into the Crystal Lake Cavern was little more than a narrow slit in the mountain. They would only be able to take the essentials. Moments like these found Parker giving silent thanks to the man that invented cargo pants. The deep pockets along her thighs allowed her to stow a large handful of glow-sticks, two Mag lights and some spare batteries, without adding too much extra bulk.

Then she stepped into her climbing harness and cinched it. The cams, chalk bag, belay and pick she'd taken from Celeste's store hung from loops on the harness. Parker picked up two ropes and slung one around each shoulder. She gingerly slid her still healing hands into a pair of fingerless gloves. Then she hooked a larger flashlight around her neck and donned her climbing helmet. Once finished, she turned to see if the brothers were ready.

Her jaw dropped open before she could stop it, and then closed with an audible snap a moment later. Sam and Dean were both on one knee, rifling through the contents of their two packs. Along with harness, headgear, a spare rope, and belay, littered on the ground was the oddest collection of weapons Parker had ever seen. "What in the world is all that for?"

"It's like we said," Sam explained patiently, "most of the stuff we hunt can't be killed just by shooting it." He picked up a pistol to show her before stowing it in a shoulder holster. "Silver bullets, if it's a shapeshifter."

Dean reached for one of two sawed off shotguns, both of which had slender flashlights fastened to the top with duct tape. "Rock salt, wards off most evil spirits." He pocketed a handful of shells in pockets on each side of his denim jacket. "Iron shot, for some others."

"Right," Sam was nodding now. He picked up a small canteen with a crude cross drawn on the front in Sharpie and tossed it to Dean. "Demons aren't too fond of Holy Water." Sam took a second canteen for himself. "When all else fails," he shrugged, "burn the sucker."

"Exactly." Dean slipped a large, sharp knife into a sheath strapped to his ankle and passed a second along to Sam. He saw the odd look Parker was shooting him. He shrugged. "Just in case."

"You know, the rational half of my head is telling me this is completely insane," Parker said.

Sam stood, eyeing the crevice in the rocks shrewdly. Great, he was going to have to duck the whole way in. "And the non rational part of your head, what's that telling you?"

Parker grimaced. "That I'm gonna start sleeping with the lights on and a glass of Holy Water on my nightstand."

Dean stowed a couple more talismans and righted himself. "All right I think we're set. What's the layout in there Parker? We need to know what we're walking into."

She drew in a deep, steadying breath. "This fissure goes back about 45 yards, then widens into a small cavern. Off the cavern there are three tunnels: the one on the left dead ends, the middle used to be a fairly straight shot through the mountain, but a slide two years ago plugged up the exit, and the right fork leads down to Crystal Lake and the Deep. That's where we're going."

"Anyplace for that thing to hide on our way there?" Sam queried.

Parker shrugged apologetically. "Couldn't say. Most of the caves up here, I wouldn't need a light to lead you through 'em, but here…" The insinuation was clear. This was a gamble, and a big one.

Dean led the way first. Parker followed just behind and Sam took the rear. The top of the fissure hit Sam in the center of his forehead. He was right, he was going to have to duck. He could immediately see why few people came up here. In some places the fissure became to narrow he had to contort his body and press himself hard against the stone just to slide through. If the first 50 yards were this daunting, he hated to think about the rest of it.

Finally, and none too soon for Sam, the crag dumped them out into a small chamber. The roof was still low enough he had to hunch, but at least he didn't feel like he was being suffocated by the walls. Dean stayed close to the wall, the shotgun up and at the ready. The bobbing lights of the headlamps were disorienting. Parker marched over to the tunnel entrance on the left.

"Angie!" she called loudly into the dark. The only answer that came was her echo.

Sam cringed. Wide eyed, Dean rushed over to her, snaked an arm around her and clamped his hand over her mouth. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he hissed.

She yanked his hand away from her mouth. "How are we supposed to find her if she doesn't know we're here?" Parker returned sharply. "We could walk right by her and not even know it."

"Yeah well, it's not going to do your sister much good, letting that thing know we're coming for it." Parker opened her mouth to argue, but Dean cut her off, whispering sharply. "Look, we need to take care of this thing first. Don't tell me how to do my job and I won't tell you how to do yours. Now shut it."

Parker glared at him, but stayed quiet. She stalked over to Sam, who was already waiting outside the entrance to the right fork. "Follow me." Their march through the tunnel was actually slower than the first part of their journey. The tunnel floors were wet and slick, undulating haphazardly and it made walking tricky. Every once in a while smaller offshoot tunnels appeared on the right or left. Each time Parker paused, using a slender canister she had attached to her harness to spray paint a small, bright blue dot on the tunnel wall. Then they moved on.

Sam guessed that they'd been walking for nearly half an hour when the tunnel finally leveled out and widened. Parker held out her hands to stop the boys from moving past her. "Ledge," she said quietly. The brothers shone their lights downward. There, no more than ten feet in front of them, the ground disappeared. Dean thought he heard the sound of rushing water.

"This wall is about 40 feet down," Parker explained as she walked along the wall's edge. She drew her pick off her hip and began hammering a spike into a small crack in the stone. "It's not the longest drop we'll probably see, but it's one of the trickiest. Runoff feeds Crystal Lake every spring, and all the moisture makes the walls here smooth as glass. Hand and footholds are a real bitch, which is why we're gonna leave in a top line."

She drew one coil of rope off her shoulders. She started to thread it through the ring on the spike. "And you can't just repel down. The lake is right below us. This wall," she slapped the stone with an open palm, "is gonna be your guide. There's a small ledge on the right you're gonna have to swing over to when this wall goes away about ten feet from the bottom. There's a small land bridge we can cross once we're down. One of you is gonna feed me line, and then I'll belay from down there and guide you two in."

"You're not going first," Dean told her.

Parker finished tying herself in with a figure eight knot. She thrust the rest of the rope at Sam. "Thought you weren't going to tell me how to do my job," she said stonily. She sounded braver than she felt, and she was glad the darkness shrouded her face. Her skin felt like ice and she couldn't stop her hands from shaking. She wasn't gonna let anyone else die on her watch, but she wished like hell one of the brothers would offer her a gun. "Ready Sam?"

"Got you." Parker leaned back and started over. Sam let the line out slowly. Dean turned on the flashlight strapped to the gun and kept watch. A few agonizing minutes later, Sam felt the pull on the line lessen. Then came three quick, sharp tugs. Parker was down.

Sam handed the line over to Dean. "Age before beauty," he said.

Dean took the rope agreeably and started to tie in. "So what does that mean Sammy, I go down before myself?"

"Funny."

Dean moved cautiously back toward the edge. "Stay sharp Sam. We've been lucky so far this thing hasn't shown its ugly mug."

"Yeah," Sam agreed, "and usually we're not that lucky." Dean smiled grimly and dropped over the edge.

Their luck held, as Dean made it down without incident. Making the ledge took a bit of a scramble. He'd had to use the rope like a giant pendulum, swinging far out before being able to make a grab for Parker's outstretched hand. Once unhooked, they sent the rope back up to Sam. "So far so good," Dean muttered to himself. Not three feet behind him Crystal Lake lay quiet behind him. The light from his headlamp reflected off its inky, glassy surface. He heard the gurgle of a small stream further down the cavern.

Sam began his descent, and Parker had to practically sit into her harness to keep the bigger man from lifting her off her feet. She let the line out slowly, her eyes riveted on the wall. Dean felt better with the shotgun firmly back in his grasp.

Sam hadn't been on the wall for two minutes when a foul odor prickled Dean's nose. It was sour and earthy. He swung the shotgun in a wide arc. He didn't see anything, not that it meant much. A sudden, low whoosh of air made him spin. "Sammy, get your ass down here quick!" The elder Winchester bellowed. Parker let the rope slide through her fingers as fast as she dared.

Up on the wall, Sam too had heard the gust. He fumbled trying to get the shotgun back over his shoulder while trying desperately to keep his feet planted firmly on the rock. He strained against his harness, craning his neck to see over his shoulder. There was antoher low woosh, and then the stench reached him. "See anything?" he called back. The time for quiet was over.

Dean was quietly cursing the narrow shafts of light his headlamp and the flashlight offered him. "No," he murmured to himself, "not a God damned thing."

The quiet screeching cry emanated from behind him. Dean whirled, and a beam of light fell across the creature. The creature seemed intent on barreling through him, raking Dean with long talons as it flew by. Dean stumbled backward, pulling the trigger, but the shot went wide. If not for the rock outcropping above them shielding him, the thing would have had a clearer shot. Dean's hand flew to his back. His jacket was shredded, but it seemed like that was the extent of the damage.

Sam didn't see it coming either, but he felt it. He turned to the right, and his eyes focused on the hideous, twisted face that was too human for him to be comfortable. Sucking in a quick breath, he raised the shotgun, and then his precarious footing failed him. His boot slipped off the rock and Sam swung into it, his shot flying wild. Sam took aim again, hanging helplessly in midair, but the creature was on top of him. Putrid breath hit him full in the face as the thing shrieked again, and it knocked the gun out of Sam's hands.

The shotgun hit the water behind Dean and Parker with a splash, disrupting its calm surface. "Sam!" Dean got as close to the edge as he dared, peering around the rock, trying to catch sight of his brother. He could make them out, barely. It was on top of Sam, wrestling with him on the rocks. "Get him down!" he yelled to Parker.

"I'm trying," she called back, near panic. The rope went slack in her hands. She wasn't supporting Sam's weight anymore. Then it went taught again, with a violent suddenness that sent her bodily into the wall. She grunted when she hit and pulled back mightily, but it was no use. That thing was dragging her around like a paper doll. Then Dean was at her side, his hands desperately clinging to the rope as well.

Sam was being ping pong-ed back and forth against the wall and into the monster. He was bleeding, its claws raking his shoulders and back. He reached down for his boot as he swung into the wall again, drawing out the hunting blade Dean had given him. He lashed out, slashing the thing across its midsection. It just seemed to piss it off. The creature buried its claws into him and wrenched him off the wall. The rope and harness pulled him in the opposite direction. He was being pulled apart. Sam couldn't help it, he screamed.

When the last precious inch of rope slipped out of Dean and Parker's hands, Dean felt like the world had plunged into slow motion. He pitched backward, striking the ground hard on his hip. Then he was on his feet again, running for the land bridge that would take him across the lake and to a better view of his brother's attacker. Each slap of his boots against the stone matched the thud of his heart. He stood in the middle of the cavern, shotgun up, searching.

Parker sprinted out just behind him, and flicked on the large, powerful flashlight she'd brought. She directed it up, using it as a spotlight for Dean. She finally got light on the creature, and Dean readjusted his grip on the gun, but he didn't fire. There was no way he could shoot it and not hit Sam. They were entwined together, Sam writhing in pain, high above the ground. Then the creature let him go.

Parker's light followed Sam's all too rapid descent. Horrified, Dean stood frozen as he watched his little brother strike the black water, and then vanish beneath it.

Chapter 5

Okay, please review…please? Good, bad, whatever, I'm new to Supernatural fic and I like to hear what I get right, and what I can improve. People who review get the extra cookie……